Russian peacekeeping troops enter Yugoslavia on Friday
MILITARY PLAN: Timetable for Kosovo transition Map: Serb troop withdrawal Map: Proposed NATO troop sectors RELATED VIDEO CNN's Jamie McIntyre looks at the pros and cons of the air war (June 11) Windows Media 28K 80K CNN's Tom Mintier reports on the arrival of NATO peacekeeping troops to Macedonia (June 10) Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K To view the latest video streams on the strikes in Kosovo, use the arrow buttons below to scroll through the video gallery.        Windows Media Real        28 K 80 K  ALSO: Russia says relations with NATO 'frozen' U.S. won't help reconstruct Yugoslavia until Milosevic out of power, Clinton says Winners and losers: Analysis of the Kosovo conflict  THE DELUGE OF REFUGEES: Number, whereabouts of Kosovo refugees  MESSAGE BOARD: Crisis in Kosovo  IN-DEPTH SPECIAL: Focus on Kosovo

In this story: Deployment to begin Saturday U.N. Security Council approves NATO plan Clinton, Milosevic each claim victory Agreement followed diplomatic marathon KLA plans to lay down arms RELATED STORIES, SITES

BELGRADE, Yugoslavia (CNN) -- A token contingent of Russian troops crossed into Yugoslavia on Friday, making them the first peacekeepers to enter the country as Yugoslav troops withdraw from Kosovo.

The small force -- about 500 troops -- moved into the Yugoslav capital, Belgrade, about noon (6 a.m. EDT) from Bosnia, where they have been serving with NATO troops as peacekeepers. The troops have not yet entered Kosovo, the Serbian province the Yugoslav army is leaving after a 79-day NATO bombing campaign.

The move comes despite the lack of an agreement between Russia and NATO on how Russian troops would participate in a peackeeping force. Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov assured his U.S. counterpart, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, that the troops were only being put into position to enter Kosovo and would not move into the province without an agreement, White House officials said.

Moscow has pressed for a Russian-controlled sector in Kosovo -- a demand the United States opposes.

Russian troop carriers moved into Yugoslavia with KFOR -- the name of the peacekeeping force in Kosovo -- painted on the nose of the vehicles.

The move comes after talks were suspended Friday between Russian officials and Deputy U.S. Secretary of State Strobe Talbott on the role of Russian forces in the peacekeeping operation in Kosovo. Talbott flew to Brussels, Belgium, home of NATO headquarters, but both sides said the talks would continue.

British and French troops now in Macedonia had been expected to lead peacekeepers into Yugoslavia on Saturday.

In Kosovo, meanwhile, a military exodus of Yugoslav trucks, troops and civilians streamed north out of the battered province while NATO troops prepared to move in.

The convoy moving into the main part of Serbia included Yugoslav armored vehicles and mobile anti-aircraft weapons. Private cars full of Serbs followed. The Serbs fear reprisals by Kosovar Albanians, hundreds of thousands of whom are expected to return over the next three months.

An estimated 40,000 armed Serbian troops or special forces in Kosovo are scheduled to withdraw from the province. They have 11 days to leave, according to a NATO-backed peace deal approved by the United Nations Security Council on Thursday.

NATO troops are poised to enter Kosovo to verify and enforce compliance with the peace agreement, and assist refugees as they return.

The commander of NATO's peacekeepers, British Lt. Gen. Michael Jackson, declined to discuss a timetable, but other officials said the troops would begin moving in Kosovo on Saturday, 24 hours after originally planned.

Early Friday, NATO spokesman Jamie Shea said the troop deployment was moving ahead on schedule.

U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen in Washington, asked if the peacekeeper entry was delayed because U.S. troops were not in position, said "absolutely not."

NATO officials said British and French troops would initially move into the southernmost Serbian province, followed quickly by U.S. Marines and soldiers.

About 18,000 NATO troops had been waiting just outside Yugoslav territories for orders to enter the region. The Kosovo force will eventually grow to some 50,000 troops.

Advance teams of NATO troops plan to enter Kosovo on Friday, alliance officials said. The scout units plan to check roads, bridges and tunnels for damage or booby traps before the main forces arrive on Saturday, according to NATO.

NATO officials said the main units of British and French troops would initially move into the southernmost Serbian province, followed quickly by U.S. Marines and soldiers.

Alliance ambassadors issued the final activation order for the Kosovo force on Thursday, soon after the U.N. Security Council gave its backing to the peace plan.

NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana earlier announced to the United Nations that the alliance had suspended its air campaign.

Speaking to the council before the vote, Yugoslav U.N. Charge D'Affairs Vladislav Jovanovic said his country was the victim of "brutal aggression" by the United States and NATO, who he said targeted civilian targets in their bombing campaign in violation of international law.

Shen Guofang, China's deputy U.N. ambassador, said his country would not use its veto to block the peace plan approved by the Group of Eight nations and Yugoslavia.

China has bitterly criticized NATO's attacks, particularly after a NATO bomb destroyed its embassy in Belgrade, killing three of its citizens. Shen said the war has been a political disaster for the alliance.

"It shows that in the future any use of force should get the authorization of the Security Council," he said.

Russian Ambassador Sergey Lavrov concurred, adding that he hoped the vote would deter NATO from acting on its own in the future.

"I hope this is a change not only on this, but on other issues as well," Lavrov said.

The council approved the resolution 14-0 with China abstaining.

In Washington, U.S. President Bill Clinton said NATO had "achieved victory for a safer world" in Kosovo. He warned Serbs that the United States will not help them rebuild from the bombing "as long as your nation is ruled by an indicted war criminal."

Clinton added: "But we are ready to provide humanitarian aid now and to help to build a better future for Serbia, too, when its government represents tolerance and freedom, not repression and terror."

In Belgrade, Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic declared a sort of victory: He said Yugoslavia had preserved its existing borders in the face of massive aerial bombardment.

"The territorial integrity of our country can never be questioned again," he said. "We survived and defended the country and raised the entire problem to the pinnacle of world authority -- the pyramid -- the United Nations."

Milosevic said the question of independence for Kosovo -- which prompted more than a year of ethnic strife in the Serbian province -- was no longer an issue.

The leader said the Yugoslav army and special police forces in Kosovo lost fewer than 600 men during the fighting. That number is about a tenth of the estimates that NATO released last week.

"We demonstrated our army cannot be defeated," he said.

The alliance lost two fliers during the war -- both U.S. Army helicopter pilots who died on a training mission in Albania when their helicopter crashed.

The cease-fire agreement outlines a strict timetable that Yugoslavia must follow. Yugoslav and NATO generals on Wednesday agreed to details of the troop withdrawal from Kosovo, following marathon talks along the Yugoslav- Macedonian border.

Under the terms of the agreement, the withdrawal must be complete by June 21.

The war began after Yugoslavia rejected a peace agreement for Kosovo similar to one it accepted last week. The accords were aimed at ending a year of ethnic conflict in the mostly ethnic-Albanian province of Yugoslavia's dominant republic of Serbia.

Solana warned that NATO could resume its bombardment if Yugoslavia reneged on its agreement to withdraw. And he added that separatist rebels of the Kosovo Liberation Army must also stand down during the withdrawal.

"Violence or noncompliance by any party will not be tolerated," he said.

KLA leader Hassim Thaci said on Thursday that the rebel force would become demilitarized under the terms of the Kosovo agreements. The KLA will develop a political organization, he said.

Thaci said the KLA will "not attack Serbian troops that are withdrawing, but we reserve the right to defend ourselves."

Kosovar refugees on the Albanian border welcomed the news of peace, but their enthusiasm was tempered by the shock of the past, and anxiety over the future.

The refugees tuned the radio to news of the dead and missing.

"I just don't believe that the Serbs will pull out," said one man.

Another bitterly said, "I don't want to see a single Serb alive. They killed four of my family."

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees spokesman Kris Janowski expects a total of 400,000 Kosovar refugees to return to the province within the next three months.

NATO repeatedly accused Yugoslavia of unleashing the army on ethnic Albanian civilians once the air war began. The reports of atrocities in Kosovo led to Milosevic's indictment by a U.N. war crimes tribunal.

Correspondents Chris Burns, Jim Clancy, Moscow Bureau Chief Jill Dougherty, Steve Harrigan, Patricia Kelly Bill Neely, Walter Rodgers, and Richard Roth contributed to this report.

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